MIN 4, OAK 3: Twins Refuse to Lose Three in a Row

I agree with you. The angst toward the bullpen doesn't match what has actually taken place. 

 

Personally, my guess is that the bullpen hasn't really been tested (starters throwing the majority of all innings, lots of offensive run production). 

 

I could be wrong... but more importantly, I don't want to be right. 

 

I'm hopeful we find some guys (plural) to safeguard against the possibility that I am. 

You are absolutely right in that the offense has taken some pressure off and the starting pitching has as well.    It is way different than when our starters would have one or two each rotation where they couldn't make it through the 4th inning.   It just wears out  a bullpen.   On the flip side though, is that our starters still rarely get past the 6th inning.   Also, while I know save stats aren't everything they are somewhat indicative.    Yankees have 42 saves but they have blown 13 of them.   Twins have 31 saves and have only blown 6.     If they had more opportunities that percentage would probably go down but I think they have done well.   I liken it a little to a couple years ago when we made the playoffs.    If we were down 4-2 in the 7th or 5-1 in the 5th we might lose 11-4 but if we were up or tied when they pen came in, then they held.   In other words they gave up a lot in games they were likely to lose anyway and held on when they had a good chance of winning.   This year is a little different.   Maybe they have been given bigger leads and have given up a few runs but they haven't broken and there have been plenty of games like last night where they have given up very little in 3+ innings in very close games.   I have some faith in Rogers, Harper, May, Duffey and Parker.   That's 5 and there are a couple other guys that are ok.    I would be happy with one more because I don't think they will get two and I fear they won't get any.

All I am saying is he isnt some magical manager. His lack of emotion during the game and his take practice whenever approach is showing overall when it comes to errors.

There has been many instances that shows he is lacking experience.

He has a different style, for sure. But I think we can give him a lot of credit for where the team is, heading into the All Star break.

I tend to not give managers a lot of credit or blame.    Rocco has had a couple moves in the pen that have made me go "huh?" but every manager does that and every manager gets criticized for bullpen usage.   I like that for the most part he has rotated players in to keep everyone fresh.  We've played 85 games and Polanco is the only one that has played more than 77.   I suspect hitting and pitching coaches have more to do with results but I will give Rocco a more than passing grade.

Everybody should have a voice. The internet gives each voice a microphone and not everyone should have a microphone.

 

You remind me that the internet hasn't figured this problem out yet. 

That sounds like a friend of mine that was running a meeting and when asked a question said "thanks for reminding me to tell you all there is no such thing as a stupid question".

Baldelli and crew with excellent use of replay challenges in this game.

I like conversations about errors because everyone says these days that errors don't show whether or not someone is a good defender. It's like saying triples don't matter.

Anyway, for some perspective, the 91 Twins had some stretches where they had an alarming number of errors.

One interesting fact: The Twins have 54 errors as a team, but only 3 errors are by their starting outfield. This infield is terrible and opposing teams are figuring it out, and each infielder has a different weakness. It's a train wreck out there.

I was curious about the extra inning games and where the Twins rank in innings played.

It was difficult to get a definitive picture because teams have played a different number of games. The spread is more than I would expect. The Tigers have only played 82. Seattle is already at 90. The Twins are at 85 (through yesterday), which is fewer than “average”. However, they have pitched more innings than the average team. It is worth noting that the Twins are the only team below average in games played that is above average in innings.

Since fielding was also mentioned, I would point out that the Twins are roughly league average in total errors and fielding percentage. However, in the “old days” even bad Twins teams were among the best fielding teams in the league. Their team UZR/150 ranks second only to the Dodgers and their range rating is by far the best in the league. Bottom line: the Twins may be making more errors but it usually is because they are getting to balls that would be clean hits against anyone else.